


Otherworldly Problems

by Avisian



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Spirits, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Drabble Collection, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Greek and Roman Mythology - Freeform, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Non-Chronological, Nymphs & Dryads, Spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-07-30 00:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16275656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avisian/pseuds/Avisian
Summary: Drabbles set in an alternate universe where spirits of nature exist, and Luffy is not quite as human as he looks.Taking character requests and prompts.





	1. Makino - 1

Luffy was quite possibly the strangest child Makino had ever met. Not that she thought it was a bad thing, but normal children did not grow flowers at their feet when excited. They did not commune with spirits as if it was as easy as breathing, and their eyes did not shine like a cat's did when it was dark.   
  
Frankly, Makino was glad that it was seemingly limited to small things that could be explained away, rather than the more illegal and less subtle magics.  
  
She tried to keep it hidden from the other villagers. Keyword: tried.   
  
By the time Luffy had released the cows from the field because, in his words, “They were bored!” she was rather certain her efforts were in vain.   
  
Makino wasn’t very in tune with her own magic or magic of any sort, but she did offer gifts at the altar of the local tree spirit who was said to protect children. They would only protect them from the wild, mind you, but Makino felt that Luffy needed all the help he could get.   
  
Spirits knew he would end up trekking through there if she didn’t keep an eye on him, and with her job at the bar and her own studies, that was seeming increasingly likely.   
  
Her Baba was an old friend of Luffy’s grandfather and agreed to watch him, but in reality it was Makino who healed his scrapes and tucked him in at night. Baba was too infirm to be looking after children when she could barely look after herself.   
  
Makino sometimes felt like the busiest girl in the world.


	2. Luffy - 1

  
Luffy loved his hat! It had to be super old, ‘cause the spirit that lived in it was the kind that usually you’d see in a tree with a lot of rings, except not, because they were the kind of spirit that fed off of feelings, not life, and there were a lot of feelings in his hat.   
  
Luffy was used to bringing spirits over, or even making them sometimes, because children had a lot of life, and a lot of energy, but he’d never had an old spirit friend before! The tree people that he’d heard called dryers didn’t really like Luffy. He wasn’t sure why, but maybe it was a really old people thing? His grandpa did leave him in the forest sometimes, so maybe the branches that smacked him were like that?  
  
Luffy was starting to get a headache. If the tree people wanted to tell him why they were mad, they would. He still had a lot of sapling and acorn friends, although the water people had been a bit weird after he ate his fruit. They were a bit weird before that though ‘cause they wouldn’t let him swim without trying to drag him under.   
  
The worst spirit was probably the bean lady, ‘cause she wouldn’t stop screaming and then people died, but it wasn’t her fault! She just knew when people were going to die and then cried to let them know. Luffy didn’t really understand why she cried instead of telling them so they could do something about it, but he hadn’t been able to talk to her ‘cause whenever he got close the wailing was too loud and she lived under a hill so Makino wouldn’t let him come in with muddy clothes.   
  
Luffy’s favorite spirits were the ones that looked out for the cows because they were kids like him and liked to make funny faces. The farmers didn’t really like seeing him make faces at the cows though, so he didn’t get to see them often. Sometimes Luffy wished he had friends that weren’t spirits, but he supposed he was all right as long as he had his hat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bean lady = Banshee, sometimes spelt bean sí  
> Dryer = Dryad, a word originally only used for Oak tree spirits, but came to mean tree spirits in general  
> Water people = Naiads, and various other forms of water nymphs
> 
> Luffy rambles quite a bit, but some information revealed here:  
> Spirits can be born from emotional energy and life energy  
> Luffy has created spirits before  
> Luffy's hat has an old spirit that feeds off of emotional energy but not life energy  
> Luffy can see and hear spirits


	3. Zoro - 1

Luffy was a strange captain and an even stranger person. 

Zoro rarely met anyone part-spirit like him, and when he did it usually resulted in a battle. It was even rarer for him to not know what kind of spirit they were.

While not exactly a nosy person, Zoro figured they had time to kill being stuck on a small raft in the middle of the ocean, and he might as well try to figure it out. It wasn't like it was useless information, after all. 

“Captain?”

Luffy looked over at him, momentarily pausing in his yelling at the water nymph that was trying to capsize them. 

“What are you exactly? You’re part spirit, I get that. But what kind?”

Luffy smacked the water nymph on the head and fully turned round to see Zoro better.

“I’m Luffy, duh.” 

That cleared up absolutely nothing. 

“Yeah, but what kind of spirit are you? You smell like a Kodama but you’re not a tree, and not a plant either unless I missed something." 

“I don’t smell like a llama!”

“How did you get that from anything I just said.” 

Zoro's line of questioning was disrupted by the nymph ramming into the boat. While distracting, it didn't stop them for more than a few seconds.

There was the possibility Luffy wasn't the one who smelt of spirit, but that would mean he had some sort of amulet tucked away that Zoro hadn't seen despite living on the same boat for two days. Unlikely, but Zoro kept a part of Kuina's spirit in his earrings so it was entirely possible Luffy had gone with a non-traditional option.

Luffy wasn't an idiot. Scatterbrained, sure. Prone to impulse, certainly. If Luffy wanted him to know, he'd tell him. He'd just have to wait until then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kodama = Japanese word for tree spirit
> 
> I figure Zoro isn't really the kind to ask about people's backstories, but different spirits have different powers so it's similar to asking about abilities. Zoro doesn't really care who Luffy's parents are.
> 
> "Kuina's spirit" here refers to her life force, although defining that is a little tricky. It's not her soul, which exist in this universe, it's more like stored up life energy. (Energy the soul makes, similar to how rubbing your hands together creates heat.)
> 
> The "amulet" has nothing to do with Kuina's spirit, Zoro's just remarking on how necklaces and rings are usually used to store magic, rather than other jewellery or accessories. 
> 
> You'll also notice that Zoro can smell spirits, but whether he can see/hear them is not mentioned ;o)


	4. Usopp - 1

Usopp knew there was something _seriously weird_ about his crew.

 

After Zoro spent the day complaining about his two swords that he broke while _fighting the greatest swordsman in the world,_ Luffy walked over to the side of the ship, leaned down and said -

 

“Hey, Zoro needs a sword!”

 

And a sword slowly inched out of the ocean.

 

There was nobody in the water as far as Usopp could tell.

 

Luffy thanked the sea, and started dragging the blade by its handle, seemingly ignoring the jellied water that was bouncing across the deck after him.

 

Luffy didn’t see anything wrong with this, and since Zoro and Nami were napping Usopp was apparently the only person around who had an issue with _swords popping up out of the blue._

 

It was a disturbingly rusty greatsword. Usopp highly doubted Zoro would use it.

 

“Man, I didn’t think that was gonna work! Usually they hate me!”

 That made absolutely no sense to Usopp, but he _had_ heard the story of Excalibur.

...Maybe the sea thought Luffy would make a good king?

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few of these already written, but please tell me if you want to see a specific character! Honestly, if I got a request for something like "Gin Luffy and Zeff the Chef fight a water spirit" I'd probably write it, but I draw the line at anything regarding feet. 
> 
> If I have to bump the rating to T I will, but anything past M and I'll make it part of a series.  
> Same with AUs and crossovers.


End file.
